Moments
by xxbabewithbrainsxx
Summary: The H/G moments in the movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were good, but I wish I could watch the whole movie again. So I've decided to relive those moments. Slightly AU as I don't think any of these moments occured in the book.


Did someone say Harry?

Ginny's POV:

I spotted his trunk and owl first. At first, I thought I was still engaged in my daydream that Harry would come to The Burrow, looking as crookedly handsome as ever, running his hands through that dark, messy hair of his. But obviously I wasn't dreaming, because if I was, then how come his belongings were there?

I ran up to tell Mum, wanting to know when he was going to arrive. She stuck her head over the railing, saying "Harry hasn't arrived!"

Ron stuck his head over the railing of where he was, on a higher floor from Mum. "Did someone say Harry? What about Harry?"

"Is he up there with you?" I called.

"I'd know if my best mate was here, wouldn't I?"

Hermione stuck her head over a railing that was even higher than Ron's. We went through the same procedure as Ron.

They all followed me downstairs. I spotted Harry, and immediately raced towards him. He held his arms out, and before I could think about it, I was hugging him. It felt slightly strange, kind of unfamiliar, but at the same time it felt weirdly comforting.

The others were standing behind me, waiting expectantly. Slowly, simultaneously, we moved away from each other. The spell was broken as he greeted his best friends and my mother.

As they hugged, I suddenly wondered why he had hugged me first. Could it possibly be - ?

No, I told myself sternly. You were the one that hugged him, remember? I shook my head slightly, trying to clear it. You're with Dean.

But he hugged me first, didn't he? said the 11-year-old, elbow-in-the-butter-dish Ginny in my head.

Stop analysing his every move! the 15-year-old Ginny reprimanded sharply. You're over him, OK?

Besides, you're just his best friend's baby sister. Why the hell would he be interested in you?

Harry's POV:

As I headed towards the Burrow, I smiled fondly. This was my favourite place in the whole world, other than Hogwarts. I looked up at the crooked house. Despite the late hour, everyone seemed to be up, because most of the lights were on.

I stepped through the open door, to find Ginny running towards me. I immediately opened my arms for a hug, for some reason. I caught a faint trace of a flowery perfume on her as my hands lightly touched her soft, red hair.

I could feel three pairs of eyes on me, over Ginny's shoulder.

Awkwardly, we slowly pulled away from each other. Instantly, I attempted to cover our embarrassment by hugging the others, barely making eye contact with Ginny.

But as I exchanged greetings with Mrs Weasley, I couldn't help pondering on that strange moment with Ginny. I've never felt so – so weird around her, I thought.

As I hurried to Ron's room, I dismissed the thought. After all, it was late, and I was tired. I probably wasn't thinking straight.

Who's the Half-Blood Prince?

"Have you ever heard of this spell, Sectumsempra?" Harry asked Hermione, showing her his copy of Advanced Potion Making.

"No, I haven't," replied Hermione, looking up from her newspaper. "And if you had a shred of self respect you'd hand that book in."

"Not bloody likely," Ron commented. "He's top of the class. He's even better than you, Hermione. Slughorn thinks he's a genius."

Hermione gave him a withering look. "What?" he said.

"I'd like to know who's that book was. Let's have a look, shall we?" said Hermione, holding out her hand.

"No," said Harry, getting up. Hermione got up too.

"Why not?"

Harry was holding the book, way out of Hermione's reach, walking quickly as Hermione walked towards him, trying to get the book.

"The binding is fragile," Harry was saying.

"'The binding is fragile?'" repeated Hermione incredulously.

"Yeah," he replied defiantly, his back to Ginny, who was sitting in an armchair, with some friends. As he went past her chair, Ginny snatched the book out of his hand.

She looked in it briefly. "Who's the Half-Blood Prince?" she asked, immediately thinking of Tom Riddle's diary.

"Who?"

"That's what it says right here. 'This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince.'"

Ginny stared at Harry, evidently waiting for an answer. It was obvious that he wasn't going to, so she threw the book on the floor. He picked it up and walked away.

The Three Broomsticks

Harry's POV

Ron and Hermione looked like they were about to sit at a table that was totally out of Slughorn's line of vision. Before they seated themselves comfortably, I said, "No, over here," pointing towards a table that had a few bits of rubbish from the previous occupant. But at least Slughorn could see me.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a quick glance at each other, then shrugged. Ron pulled out the chair opposite me.

"No, no. Sit next to me," I said quickly. He was blocking me from Slughorn's view.

Ron looked uncertainly at Hermione again. "OK."

A kid appeared in front of me, blocking Slughorn from my view. His filthy rag began wiping the table by itself. I craned my neck, trying to look around him for Slughorn.

"What'll you have?" the kid asked.

Before I could say anything, Hermione spoke. "Three Butterbeers. A splash of ginger in mine, please."

The rag went back into the kid's pocket. I still looked at Slughorn, until Malfoy came in. We glared at each other for a second, then he exited the pub.

What was he doing there? I thought.

"Oh, bloody hell," said Ron, bringing me out of my reverie. I turned towards him and looked in the same direction as him: Ginny and Dean, sitting in a dark corner. Alone. "Slick git," Ron snarled.

But why would you care? I asked myself.

"Oh, honestly, Ronald. They're only holding hands." At that moment, Dean and Ginny leaned towards each other for a kiss.

"And snogging," Hermione added, slightly uneasily. I looked away. I couldn't stand it. Why couldn't I stand Ginny snogging someone?

Because really, you want to be in Ginny's place, said the reckless voice in my head.

Just shut up! my other voice said furiously.

"I'd like to leave," Ron stated, sounding disgusted. So would I, I thought.

"What?" said Hermione. "You can't be serious!"

"That happens between my sister!" Ron said in a furious undertone.

"So? If she looked over here and saw you snogging me, would you expect her to get up and leave?"

Ron blinked, utterly speechless. Inwardly, I chuckled. The tension between them sometimes was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I wish they could just snog and be done with it.

I wished that would happen with Ginny and me too.

After the Quidditch match

Harry's POV

I was so happy. We won! My first match as captain and we won. And all with a "little glug" of Felix Felicis. And the best thing was, he didn't even drink it!

Ron stood in the middle of the room, basking in the glory. Lavender was looking up at him admiringly, as everyone yelled, "Weasley! Weasley!" at the top of their voices.

I took a sip of my Butterbeer, grinning at Hermione. After I had told her the truth about the Felix Felicis, showing her the full bottle, she was more than happy to join in with the celebrations.

"Ron seems to be enjoying himself," Hermione said, trying to sound more cheerful.

"Yep," I chuckled. "Apparently it's his lucky day."

Then suddenly there was an eruption of cheers and wolf-whistles as Lavender flew at Ron and kissed him, full on the mouth. I just stared, grinning boyishly as Ron lost his snogging virginity at long last.

It was when she was really eating his face that I turned to look at Hermione. I frowned, as she had disappeared completely. Had she learnt to Apparate already?

I decided to try and find her. It wasn't hard. After a minute I found her crying on one of the steps near the window.

I wasn't sure what I should do. I tried to console her as best as I could. But what surprised me was the fact that she knew about my feelings for Ginny. Hell, I wasn't even fully aware of my feelings!

But that's why Hermione was Hermione. She was smart. Seriously though, I never knew that she felt that intensely about Ron. So I wasn't too surprised that when Ron came in, WITH Lavender (insensitive git!), evidently looking for a place to snog, Hermione set her canaries on him. They finally got the message and left.

"It just feels like this," I said to Hermione as she cried into my shoulder.

I knew exactly how she was feeling. I just wish I knew what I would do to stop it.

Christmas at The Burrow

Ginny's POV

Harry was sitting on the sofa, staring into space. Other than Dad, who was sitting in an armchair, there was no one else in the room. I had a small tray of mince pies in my hands; I had made them, by the way.

I sat down quietly beside him. Dad took this as his cue to leave the room. I grinned at him. "Open up, you," I said cheerfully. I was trying to cover my nervousness with bravado. Why did I want him to try my mince pies? Why not anyone else?

He just smiled at me. "Don't you trust me?" I asked. He sighed, resignedly opening his mouth. I fed it into his mouth, tempted to shove the bloody thing in whole, just to make him laugh.

"Mmm," he said through a mouthful. "'S good."

We stared at each other. I was sitting so close to him; my arm was against his and his knee was pressed against mine. We continued to look into each other's eyes – we were so close together -

Ron clambered over Harry to sit between us. Damn! I thought as I reluctantly moved to make space for him. I was really miffed that our special moment was ruined by my (arsehole of a) brother!

"Pie?" Ron asked stupidly. I sighed moodily.

Harry's POV

You eejit, Ron! I cursed silently. What's his problem? I thought. Me and Ginny – well, it seems too good to be true, but if she feels the same way - ?

No, I thought, wordlessly declining a pie from Ron. She gave up on me ages ago, right? She was just being friendly.

She's got Dean, said a sensible voice in my head.

No she hasn't, replied the monster in my stomach. She was rowing with him. I think they've broken up. What if…?

No, snapped Mr Sensible. She's not interested in you. It's that simple. Now banish the thought from your head.

The Kiss

Ginny's POV

"You've got to hide it," I told him. "Today."

As we went to the seventh floor, I paused in front of a wall. "Take my hand," I said, trying to sound steely to cover my slight nervousness.

He hesitated, then took the hand that I offered him.

We materialised into the Room of Requirement.

"The Room of Requirement…" Harry murmured. I nodded. We turned a corner, and I walked backwards, our hands still clasped.

"Over the years, if someone had a secret, if they wanted to conceal something, this is where they came. Some of these things are almost as old as the castle itself."

We both heard a scuffling sound. "What was that?" we both said simultaneously. I smiled nervously.

We went nearer to the scuffling sound, trying to find the source. Harry pulled aside a tapestry and opened the vibrating cabinet. A black bird flew out of it.

"See. You never know what you'll find up here."

Harry nodded.

"All right. Close your eyes. That way you can't be tempted." I walked towards him, going quite close to him. I could feel his breath on my cheek as slowly, gently, I slipped the book from his fingers.

I noticed that his eyes were still open. "Close your eyes…" I whispered. He finally obeyed.

I took the book and hid it in an old cabinet with an old bust and a tarnished tiara on top of it.

Quietly, I went back to where Harry was. Standing about five feet away from him, I stared at him unashamedly. He was just standing there with his eyes closed, oblivious to my intense gaze. If he was looking at me, I would've been embarrassed to observe him for so long. He looked so tempting. I couldn't resist. I'd wanted to do this for such a long time.

I walked towards him, even closer than I had been before. Before I could think about it any longer, I planted a fleeting kiss on his lips. I pulled away quickly, realising just what I had done. I had just gambled our entire friendship. Regardless of all the chemistry that seemed to be flowing between us this year, I was still scared.

I regarded him. His eyes were still closed. Trying not to stammer, I murmured, "That can stay hidden up here too if you like."

He smiled softly, his eyes still closed, as if trying to savour the moment. And before I could do anything stupid, I walked out of the Room of Requirement. I could feel his eyes on me as he watched me go.

Harry's POV

I couldn't believe what had just happened. Ginny had just KISSED me! I felt like I was in a daze. I even forgot about Sectumsempra. As I wandered aimlessly down the corridor, grinning sheepishly, Ron came up to me from behind.

"So, did you and Ginny do it?" he asked.

"What?" I said, looking scandalised. As much as I'd want to, we only shared a kiss in there. And I don't think Ginny would've told anyone yet.

"You know. Hide the book," Ron said.

"Oh," I said, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. "Yeah."

Dumbledore's Death

Harry pushed through the crowd, ignoring everyone's stares. He was intent on see Dumbledore's body: the final proof that his headmaster was dead. Wordlessly, he went past Ginny, Ron and the others. Finally, he reached the body of Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore lay still on the ground. Harry approached him. He touched his face and his beard. He felt something hard under his knee, where he was kneeling. Harry groped around with his hand and found the locket. Clutching it tight in one hand, he put his other to Dumbledore's chest. It didn't move. He was really dead. Gone.

It was at that moment that he broke down completely. Ginny hurried forward, putting her arms around Harry, hugging him to her as he cried. Dean stared in disbelief. Hermione looked as if she was on the verge of tears as well, as she breathed unsteadily.

Behind them, Professor McGonagall raised her wand high towards the sky. Slowly, all the surrounding students and teachers followed suit. Their lit wands, united as one, made a fierce beam of light shine through the dark clouds.


End file.
